Kain's Child
by Smoke
Summary: Lousy title because it's not a 'vampire adopts a human' story. This story is about giving Kain something that he really shouldn't have... a descendant.
1. Chapter 1

This was actually prompted by Son of Eve. Kain belonged to Silicon Knights.

BTW: There's a petition to try and convince Eidos to make a new Legacy of Kain game. One place you can find the address is in my profile. Spread the link.

* * *

Kain sat in the corner of a pub, scowling at his drink in disdain. Roughly a year ago he had ordered an ale, but an uncooperative barkeep and other circumstances had kept him from it. Now, in a different bar, Kain finally had his ale but couldn't enjoy it. He was grateful at least for the caution that caused him to tentatively sample the beverage. The fluid burned his lips so severely that even if he did enjoy the effects, it simply was not worth the pain.

A conversation drifted across the pub. Kain had made his fateful decision several weeks ago, but already he was tiring of people discussing the collapse of the Pillars. Kain left his ale and stepped out into the cool night air. He was more likely to find and enjoy a drink in peace out here than in the pub.

Later, his thirst slaked, Kain still found himself brooding outside of the pub. The man's drunkenness had given his blood a sour flavor, but it hadn't affected Kain in the slightest. He could sense that even if he consumed the blood of every man that left that pub, it would be no different.

Kain was about to leave when he noticed someone being forcibly thrown out of the door. "Stop bothering my customers," the barkeep shouted.

Kain watched as the figure brushed the dust from his cloak. There was something about the attitude of this man. He didn't have a noble bearing, but still he carried himself with a certain pride. There was something familiar in those movements.

As the cloaked figure walked past, Kain mentioned, "The lack of hospitality in taverns never ceases to amaze me."

"It happens all the time." The figure turned, revealing a youthful face under his hood. "Excuse me sir, but I'm looking for a man by the name of Kain."

Kain tensed under his cloak, but maintained his composure. This boy was barely a threat. "Why are you looking for him?"

The boy seemed surprised, as if this were the first time that anyone showed interest in his quest. "He's my father."

Kain had enjoyed the company of many brothel girls in his lifetime, women who only knew his name because he loved the sound of it when screamed, but the children of such unions could never truly know which of his mother's many guests had inspired them.

Another face surfaced among Kain's memories. They were both young, barely old enough to commit such acts, much less understand them. Kain had never regretted coercing her into it, but the potential aftermath of that union did intrigue him now. Already Kain had learned that the dead do not create life.

"Tell me about yourself," Kain requested, not yet willing to reveal any real information of his own.

"Do you know who him or not?" the boy demanded.

"I might," Kain admitted. "Who was your mother? What did she tell you about your past?"

"Her name was Liora," the boy admitted. "She was a servant to the house of Stuart."

Yes, this was the woman that Kain remembered. His family had sent her away with a reasonable dowry when she began to show. What happened to her afterward had been beyond his concern.

Kain was no longer a man, much less the man he once was. Already he could sense that he was on the cusp of a very long existence, but yet it did not leave time for concern over a mortal.

"I did know the man you are seeking." Kain spoke firmly. "He is no more."

The boy seemed crestfallen, but he said, "I wish I had known him."

"Follow me," Kain offered. "I think I can help you."


	2. Chapter 2

"Where are we going?" the youth asked as he struggled to keep up with Kain on the moonlit path.

"The family estate," Kain answered, testing Edwin's knowledge.

"And how far is that?" Edwin asked.

"Coorhagen," Kain admitted. Apparently, the boy had set out without even knowing where to start.

"I've been there," Edwin said. "The town was almost deserted, but the people I did meet chased me off in a hurry."

"There was a plague," Kain sighed. He had not looked for any other relatives that might have survived, but if Edwin had been searching there and only received a cold reception, then it was doubtful he had encountered family.

Kain had to admit to himself that he never would have accepted the boy if not for the current circumstances. His change in attitude was prompted by regret at never marrying and producing a legitimate heir. For Kain's relatives to let Edwin freely besmirch family honor with his search was almost as unlikely as them acknowledging the boy's place among them. Edwin was very fortunate that Kain no longer cared about his human reputation.

"Coorhagen is three days away," Edwin pointed out. "Can't we stop for the night?"

"We will rest at dawn," Kain insisted.

Edwin frowned at the cloaked shape in front of him. "Are you a fugitive?"

"Your questions are tiresome," Kain growled.

"You know so much about me, but I don't even know your name," Edwin angrily insisted.

Kain had let beguile disspell long ago, trusting his cloak and the darkness to hide his true nature. Now he turned and snarled. "All you need to know is that if I wanted you dead, I would have killed you already."

Edwin staggered back in shock at glimpsing Kain's features. He tripped over a rut in the road and fell solidly on his backside. Edwin tried to scramble away, but he relaxed when he saw Kain calmly watching him.

Edwin cautiously got to his feet. "You're a vampire. But why..."

"Your questions are tiresome," Kain repeated.

They hiked on in silence for a time. As the shadows lightened, Kain stepped off the path and into the shade of the trees. He wrapped his cloak more securely around himself and settled in a bundle of roots.

Edwin gratefully sunk down against a different tree and gave a weary sigh. "How did I get into this mess?"

"Your willingness to follow me indicates a certain resolve," Kain murmured from under his hood. "Why were you so desperate to find a man who had forsaken you? Why didn't you stay where you were?"

"I just feel so alone in this world," Edwin said. "My mother died a couple of months ago, and I realized that I didn't have anyone else. I wanted to find out where I came from."

"Try to get some sleep," Kain muttered, hunching further into his cloak.

So Liora was dead. The news didn't concern Kain that greatly. He never truly cared for the woman, not beyond his own young urges, and now he was so entrenched in death that any single one seemed insignificant.

A few days and many miles later, the two arrived in Coorhagen. It was shortly before dawn, and the sparsely populated town was completely silent. Though Kain had given Edwin small bits of information, he didn't introduce himself or give any clues about how he would know anything.

Kain's home was an unassuming manor towards the edge of town, one of several such buildings. When he had come to Coorhagen before, he hadn't wanted to linger among the corpse-ridden streets, so he left without visiting this area. Now Kain felt a hint of sorrow at ever leaving.

The abandoned manor was locked securely, and Kain didn't know where to find whoever held the keys, but he did know of a secret entrance for those that were exceedingly brave and agile. Kain scaled the brickwork of the chimney and swung out into empty space to catch the gutter. It creaked alarmingly under his weight, but Kain managed to clamber onto the roof. A moment later, he was squeezing through one of the vents into the attic.

Kain sniffed cautiously, afraid that he would be welcomed with the stench of death and decay. Instead, his refined senses were assaulted by smells familiar to his life, though tempered by copious amounts of dust. The bodies of the working class had rotted even in their homes, but living or dead, the occupants of this place were here no more.

Kain swiftly made his way through the manor, for the moment pretending that the last year had been nothing more than a bizarre dream. He opened the door from the inside and allowed Edwin to enter.

"This is where you come from," Kain murmured quietly.

Edwin stared in rapt attention at the lavish surroundings "Do you think that I'll find what I'm looking for?"

"Perhaps," Kain shrugged.

"I suppose you are going to spend the day here?" Edwin asked.

The boy had shown his distaste for Kain's nature, but also intense interest in what Kain knew. Kain didn't care what connotations this particular question held.

"I will stay as long as I please," Kain stated. "If this place were not abandoned, I doubt that either of us would be welcome."

Kain's old room was almost exactly the way he had left it. Some of the items on his dresser had wandered from their exact places, most likely the servants had moved them while dusting in the first year of his absence. Kain was grateful for the hangover-inspired drapes over the windows and around his bed. The room would grow no brighter than this predawn gloom.

Kain felt like he had just lain down when he groggily awoke to a banging on his door. He growled in irritation, as he was unhappy to be awake during the middle of the day. He angrily wrenched open the door to see his expression mirrored by his son.

"You! Why did you not say anything?" Edwin demanded. "There is a portrait in the library."

"Your father is dead," Kain sneered, displaying his fangs. Inwardly, he wondered why someone had taken that unflattering picture out of storage.

"You can still speak," Edwin insisted, "I'm sure that you also remember."

"I remember enough," Kain ceded.

They sat in one of the formal studies, the curtains drawn to blot out the daylight and candles providing a more comfortable illumination.

"What happened to you?" Edwin asked, referring to Kain's undeath.

"That is not your concern," Kain insisted. "Know only that I was attacked and given a thirst for the blood of humans." Kain was unsure how it happened with other vampires, but legends made it plausible that he did have those details in common with them.

"Tell me about your life, then," Edwin requested.

Kain spent the rest of the day relating various tales of his life, though none of them were as interesting as what had happened after he died. Still, Edwin listened with rapt attention.

As Kain felt the sun dipping towards the horizon, his tone changed. "Though I was a noble, there is very little wealth left. I will write a letter that should grant you some chance of claiming your birthright. You have the estate."

"You're not leaving, are you?" Edwin asked.

"Our differences would make it too difficult to coexist," Kain explained. "You were more fortunate in your quest than you should have been. Be thankful for that."

"I am," Edwin sighed. "What am I to do now?"

"Settle down, get married, live," Kain whispered.


	3. Chapter 3

I'm not sure about exactly what prompted Edwin to tell his name to Kain. More likely it was a one-sided introduction rather than Kain asking for it.

Unfortunately, this story introduced itself as a short peice. One more chapter, I think. It's still hand-written and I'm not sure when I'll type it out.

* * *

Kain sat in the branches of a huge oak, watching his old home. His familiar seat creaked ominously, a reminder that even a tree's lifetime would be short in his perception. Kain had returned here a few times each decade.

In the first years Kain had returned, he and his son would sit and talk through the night. It staved off Kain's loneliness in a world that was otherwise nothing but hostile to him. Edwin too had benefited from their rare conversations, dipping into Kain's superior wisdom on certain matters.

Edwin had prospered well enough, though he never reached the wealth befitting his lineage. He had married a beautiful woman that had blessed him with many children. Though he was an awkward father, Edwin loved them all. He had actually faired better as a grandfather, until age finally took him.

Though Kain was sad at Edwin's passing, he understood that it was the price of taking interest in a mortal. He didn't talk to anyone else in his family. Kain was content to watch them from afar whenever nostalgia took him.

Kain's reverie was interrupted by a yell drifting out over the field. A small boy was chasing a dog and calling after it. They ran heedlessly through the grasses and into the forest. Kain slipped down from his perch and followed the boy into the woods.

A loud roar changed the focus of Kain's concern. Instead of sneaking silently after the boy, Kain broke into a full run. Unheeded branches lashed against his face as he dove through the underbrush. Within a moment, Kain burst into a clearing. The boy was on his hands and knees at the edge of the clearing, a demon stood at the opposite edge. The boy's dog was foolishly barking at the demon's heels.

The demon's arms bristled with electricity. Kain had faced larger creatures during his original journeys, but he did not underestimate this beast. Though lanky, it's animalistic form was still strong. Kain stepped forward, the Soul Reaver humming with anticipation.

The demon swung at Kain, but he easily blocked the massive pincer. Kain pushed the demon's arm up and away and quickly brought his sword around to slash at its slim abdomen. The demon recoiled, roaring in pain. Before it could recover, Kain brought the Reaver around again to slash upwards and through its face. The demon staggered back, momentarily too stunned to respond. Kain brought the Reaver around for one final strike, this time feeding his magical energy into it and encouraging the possessed sword to find the foul beast's soul.

The demon collapsed to the ground before melting into a puddle of noxious gore. Kain scooped up the child and began running back in the direction from whence they came. The boy screeched for his dog, but the fool animal had run deeper into the forest, and Kain had no concern for it.

Once out in the open, Kain set the child down, but he was sure to leave a restraining talon on the boy's shoulder lest he try to reenter the forest. "You are Bertie?" Kain asked. He had heard some of the childrens' names while eavesdropping.

"My name is Bertram," the boy scowled. "Only my mom gets to call me Bertie."

"You were very reckless today," Kain harshly reprimanded. He noticed the lack of fear in the boy's eyes, even though he was face-to-face with an angry vampire. "Only a fool fears nothing."

"Nothing's ever tried to hurt me before," Bertram admitted. "And you did save me."

"I saved you for lunch," Kain growled before sinking his fangs into the boy's neck.

Kain fought with his instincts over Bertram's life. There was a risk in feeding from him, but the boy would not survive if he didn't gain a respect for danger. Reluctantly, Kain released his throat. Bertram was unconscious, and he would be anemic for several weeks. Hopefully that was enough time for the lesson to sink in. There were many other children of Bertram's generation in the family, and all of them would die eventually, but Kain preferred to see them live out the full arc of their lives.

Kain stealthily laid Bertram on the path to the manor's front door. He was confident that the foolish boy would be found soon enough, just as he was confident that his features had sharpened enough that Bertram would not make the same connection between portrait and vampire that Edwin had so long ago.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I do not own Kain. Nor do I particularly like the way I wrote this chapter.

* * *

With the Hylden Lord defeated, there was little to stand in the way of his future, yet Kain found his mind lingering on the past. He had tracked his family line up until his defeat two centuries ago, even though very few of them were aware of his existence. Now Kain was unsure if any of his family still survived. 

As irritating as it was to not know, Kain could not depart for Coorhagen immediately. Vorador had not survived his encounter with the Reaver, to Kain's disappointment, but many of his fledglings were still alive to pose a threat. The remains of the Seraphan also needed to be dealt with.

It was several years until Kain could get away.

l

It sickened Kain to see his childhood home in ruin. The boards on the windows were silver with age, and the entire structure radiated the oppressive stillness of a building that had not been entered in years.

Kain turned away in disappointment, but then he noticed a light in an outbuilding that had once been the servant's quarters. He approached cautiously, and noticed that the structure had been remodeled to accommodate the modern conveniences.

Kain's ability to disguise his vampiric traits had not diminished during his long slumber, and so he called upon it as he rang the bell. An elderly woman cautiously opened the door, a small chain preventing it from opening more than a crack.

Kain had all but forgotten how to speak to someone without sounding authoritative, but he managed some measure of humility now. "My lady, you do not know me, but I am looking for someone from the Stewart family."

"Who wants to know?" she asked guardedly.

He decided that the truth would be easiest. "I am Kain."

She raised her eyebrows at the singular name, but she said, "I am Emily Markstrom. My Grandmother was the last Stewart that I know of."

"I believe we may be related," Kain said. "May I come in?"

Emily unlatched the chain and stepped back so Kain could enter. Kain walked slowly, taking in the modest furnishings of the small but comfortable cottage. He momentarily froze as he saw his own portrait, amazingly intact after all this time, hanging among other family pictures on the wall.

"I've been researching the family history," Emily explained as she noticed Kain staring at the pictures. "Unfortunately, the records are incomplete. I don't even know the names of half of these people."

Kain thought for a moment that he could identify some of the portraits, but then he realized that the faces belonged to people of different generations, and so he remained silent.

"I've always been curious about what ever happened to the ones that had the wanderlust," Emily said, opening a chest set against the wall. "I've only found one that settled elsewhere and started a family." She pulled out an envelope and showed it to Kain. The ink was faded over time, and the letter was barely readable through the layer of vellum, but Kain recognized the birth announcement.

It had always concerned Kain whenever any of his family decided to leave Coorhagen. He was sure that, like himself, their lives would be cut short. It had come as a complete surprise the first time he was shown this letter. Oddly enough, curiosity had never driven Kain to seek out this branch of his family.

Emily pulled out a large piece of cloth and began unfolding it on the table. It was the family tree. Many of the entries were embroidered in black thread, but a few were in blue ink. It was obviously a work-in-progress. "I've been gathering my research and doing whatever I could to preserve it. Where do you fit in this chart?"

Kain could see how lying to Emily would be nearly impossible, she simply was too knowledgeable. Besides which, he could see no reason why he should. He tracked back to the beginning, and was mildly surprised that the record reached back to even before his time. Some of his ancestors and siblings were missing, but there were more recent gaps as well.

"I am here," Kain stated confidently, pointing out his entry.

"But that was centuries ago," Emily argued.

"I know," Kain answered, staring her in the eye.

"No one lives that long," Emily insisted.

"Do not be afraid," Kain instructed, letting his true features show through.

Emily gasped. She nervously remarked. "My Great-uncle Davis said that he knew a vampire. We all thought that age had addled his mind."

"That does happen," Kain sighed. Watching some of his own descendants slowly lose their ability to think clearly had pained him greatly. Now being reminded of how many descendants he had outlived was making Kain despondent.

Kain pointed out a gap in the family tree. "Elizabeth had two children with a man by the name of Randall."

Some of Emily's fear dissipated as her life's passion was fed. "There aren't any records past her childhood. What else do you know?"

Kain spent the next few hours filling the gaps in Emily's research. He didn't mind indulging her, though Kain would hope that he and his memories would outlast any chronicle that Emily could create. Nor was this a one-sided exchange, as Kain discovered what he had not been able to witness firsthand.

"So Bertram did survive," Kain remarked. "I did not see him after I taught him the meaning of fear."

"He was a cautious man. He left to join a monestary as soon as he was old enough," Emily said. "Actually, I'm surprised that no one ever mentioned you, even in their journals."

"There were only a few who knew, and I preferred that it be kept that way," Kain admitted.

"It is a rather odd secret," Emily mused, "And there were times when we might have been in danger if anyone else discovered it."

"What of yourself?" Kain asked. "Why are you living here, alone in the groundsman's shack? Where is everyone else?"

"I live here because I can't maintain the house. There's just too much of it." Emily sighed sadly. "There might be others that I do not know about, but I thought that I was the last. Due to various circumstances, each generation just kept getting smaller. My brother and one of my cousins both drowned; my other cousin died in childbirth. I tried to have children, but they were born too soon and died. I gave up after I lost the third one."

Kain sat in silence as misery overtook him. He knew he should count himself lucky that his line had lasted this long, but he could only focus on how it was being taken from him.

"I must leave soon," Kain finally said. "Is there anything more that you wish to know?"

Emily heard the finality in Kain's voice. "Won't I ever see you again?"

"I do not intend to return," Kain insisted as he stood to walk out the door. Though he knew it was inevitable, he could not bear to return here only to discover Emily's demise.

Even before Kain had discovered that he couldn't sire vampires, he had sworn to himself that none of his descendants would share in his darkness. Faced with the certainty that there were going to be no more descendants, Kain still would not choose to break that ancient oath.

Kain stopped at the sound of his name, turning on the threshold to face Emily.

"Remember me," she said.

"I shall," Kain promised.

As Kain walked away from the last of his bloodline, he could not help but reflect on the irony. Both of them had slowly lost their family over the course of their lifetimes, helpless to do anything but watch. Now both of them were losing that last tie. Kain refused to stay simply to delay that. Emily would die first, and his own pain was not worth sparing it for her.

Especially when faced with a new possibility.

Over the last month, Kain had become aware of the necromantic spells that granted him unlife. They were twined with his soul, but distinct. Kain could now see how to unravel those spells to create new vampires like himself. They would become his new family, and they would never leave him.


End file.
